Graduate School Newsblog

Tag: Fellowship

Federal Funding General Information Session

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Michigan Tech students have an impressive success rate at being awarded some of our nation’s most prestigious and competitive graduate fellowships.

Michigan Tech’s Sponsored Program Enhancement office will host a general information session on  federal funding opportunities.

When: Wednesday April 20th at 6:00 in Fisher Room 131

Please join us if you are interested in finding out how you can fund your graduate education (@ Michigan Tech or at another university) through fellowships/scholarships offered by the National Science Foundation, Department of Energy, Department of Defense, NASA, and EPA.

Who should attend: Current juniors, seniors, and graduate students who have a competitive GPA, some research experience, and are a US citizen, US national, or permanent resident alien.

Please contact Jodi Lehman (jglehman@mtu.edu) with any questions.

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Tech Students Receive NSF Awards for Grad Study, Research

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The National Science Foundation has selected three Michigan Tech students and a recent graduate to receive highly competitive awards that support their research and graduate study. Another student, now at Northern Michigan University, will use his award to pursue an advanced degree at Michigan Tech.

Master’s student Chris DeDene and recent graduate David Schaeffer have received NSF Graduate Research Fellowships. DeDene will pursue a PhD in Civil Engineering at Michigan Tech. Schaeffer will continue work on his PhD in Psychology at the University of Georgia.

Fellowship recipient Erich Petushek is completing his master’s at Northern Michigan University and will be coming to Tech, where he expects to pursue a doctorate degree in Applied Cognitive Science and Human Factors focusing on Biomechanics.

Graduate Research Fellowships support students in NSF-supported STEM disciplines who are pursuing research-based degrees. Each fellow receives a three-year annual stipend of $30,000, a $10,500 cost-of-education allowance and access to the TeraGrid supercomputer network. The NSF selected 2,000 fellows from more than 12,000 applicants.

An additional 2,064 applicants received honorable mentions. Among them are Tech students Eric Peterson, a physics PhD student; Eric Wesseldyke, an environmental engineering PhD student; mechanical engineering student Andrew Tulgestke; and Jonathan Ebel, a master’s student in biological sciences. Anieri Morales of the University of Puerto Rico, who plans to pursue a graduate degree at Michigan Tech, also received an honorable mention.

Tech students Erin Thomas and John Lyons, who are earning PhD degrees in mathematical sciences and geophysics, respectively, were selected to participate in NSF’s East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes. The institutes place US graduate students in research labs throughout East Asia and the Pacific, to help students initiate scientific relationships that will lead to future international collaborations. The awards include airfare, lodging, living expenses and a $5,000 stipend.

Thomas will be conduct research in Beijing, while Lyons will travel to Japan.

To learn more about federal funding opportunities for graduate students, attend an information session at 6 p.m., Wednesday, April 20, in Fisher 131. Faculty, advisors, undergraduates and graduate students are encouraged to attend. For more information, contact Jodi Lehman at 487-2875 or at jglehman@mtu.edu.

Published in Tech Today.

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DOE Announces New Scholarships

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The US Department of Energy (DOE) has announced two new postgraduate fellowship programs in clean energy technologies. DOE says the purpose of the fellowships is to “attract the country’s best and brightest scientific minds to work on advanced clean energy technologies.”

One is a postdoctoral fellowship program that will fund up to 20 fellows nationwide for two years. Selected fellows will be encouraged to pursue innovative, independent new projects that could include working with local community organizations, providing expertise to start-up companies or pursuing grant funding for new work. Applications are due by June 30, and the fellowships will begin this fall. For more information, see www.energy.gov/education/postdoctoral_fellowships/.

The second program, the SunShot Initiative Fellowships, will select recent Master’s or PhD graduates who want to focus on critical technology innovations that can help reduce the total cost of solar energy systems by about 75 percent, making them cost-competitive with other forms of energy without subsidies by the end of the decade. SunShot is a collaborative national energy initiative. Applications for the SunShot Initiative Fellowships Program will be accepted on a rolling basis. For more information, see www.energy.gov/education/stp_fellowships.html.

Published in Tech Today.

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Lunch and Learn: “Graduate Fellowship Opportunities at the National Institutes of Health”

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In collaboration with Associate Professor Tammy Donahue (ME-EM) and Chair Jason Carter (Exercise Science), Sponsored Programs will host a Lunch and Learn on the NIH Individual Graduate Fellowship Opportunity–Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award NRSA.

The session is scheduled from noon to 1 p.m., Tuesday, March 15, in Memorial Union Ballroom A-1.

Graduate students and faculty will learn who should apply, what is involved in preparing an application, specific tips for writing a successful NRSA and an inside perspective on the criteria which reviewers use to evaluate applications.

This session will focus on an explanation of the different NRSA funding mechanisms, an understanding of the role of institutes in funding decisions, and how to determine if NIH is a good fit for interested applicants, or if NSF or others are better

Specific proposal development tips will be given on the four main proposal components: candidate qualifications, training plan, mentor statement and research plan.

To register for the event, see lunch and learn.

For more information, contact Jodi Lehman at 487-2875 or jglehman@mtu.edu.

Published in Tech Today.

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Scholarship Opportunity for Engineering Juniors, Seniors and Grad Applicants

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Michigan Tech has been awarded NSF scholarships in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. For the next four years, the program will award scholarships to junior and senior engineering students, as well as first-year engineering graduate students.

Faculty and staff are asked to alert students about this opportunity.

The purpose of the undergraduate scholarships is to improve the retention of upper-division engineering students who have financial need and other risk factors that make it difficult to complete their undergraduate degree.

The purpose of the graduate scholarships is to improve the recruitment of women and minorities to graduate school in engineering.

At the undergraduate level, the program will award 35 scholarships per year in amounts of $1,000 to $5,000.

At the graduate level, the program will award five scholarships per year at $8,000.

The program also features mentoring and professional development opportunities. For more information and applications, see http://www.doe.mtu.edu/sseed/ .

For questions, contact Michele Miller at 487-3025 mhmiller@mtu.edu .

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Nominations for Dean’s Fellowships Open

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Nominations for the Dean’s Fellowship are now open. Nominations are due no later than March 1st by 4pm.

These fellowships are available to assist with the recruitment of highly talented applicants to Michigan Tech’s PhD programs. The Dean’s Fellowship is intended to contribute to the development of a diverse academic community, which includes future faculty and others who will be leaders throughout their professional careers.

Dean’s Fellowships provide partial support for the recipient’s first year in a PhD program. The support includes a stipend of $2,000 per academic-year semester (fall and spring) as well as full summer support (stipend plus minimum full-time tuition and fees).

Please see our web page for complete details on eligibility and the nomination procedure.  Direct any questions about the program to Debra Charlesworth.

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Summer 2011 Finishing Fellowship Nominations Open

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Nominations for summer Finishing Fellowships are now open. Applications must be submitted to the Graduate School no later than 4pm on February 24th.

Students are eligible if all of the following criteria are met:

  1. Must be a PhD student.
  2. Must expect to finish in summer.
  3. Must have submitted no more than one previous request for funding.
  4. Must be eligible for Research Only Mode in the summer session.

Previous recipients of a Finishing Fellowship are not eligible.

Please see our application page for details on the application procedure. Please direct any questions you have about the application or review process to Debra Charlesworth.

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Rewarding Those Who Have Served the US

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Michigan Tech has instituted a new fellowship program for graduate students who have served in the Peace Corps, AmeriCorps or the military.

In its first semester of operation, the National Service Graduate Fellowship covers as much as 30 percent of tuition, but its benefits extend beyond financial assistance.

“Through this program, we are getting more nontraditional students to campus who bring a different perspective to the classroom,” said Professor Blair Orr (SFRES). “They have a lot to contribute from their experiences.”

Orr is in charge of Tech’s Peace Corps Master’s International program, one of the three programs involved in the initiative.

Lt. Col. Kerry Beaghan, of the Air Force ROTC program, agrees that the type of student the program attracts is “very atypical.”

“They’re older military personnel, who maybe tried college earlier in their lives,” she says. “Or they might have enlisted right out of high school, and now they are interested in an education and must juggle family and school and financing. This program helps them.”

For the military personnel, the new post-911 GI Bill includes a housing allowance at some schools and, depending on the level of the service, their spouses or children might also benefit from the tuition reduction, Beaghan says.

In the planning for the military component of the fellowship, Beaghan credits Dallas Eubanks, former head of Michigan Tech’s Army ROTC, for his help in crafting this new program.

“We had to decide whom do we include and what to include,” she says.

Natiffany Mathews, a master’s student in industrial archaeology, did her AmeriCorps service on the New Mexico/Texas border, in poor school districts, and she chose Michigan Tech because of the fellowship and the opportunity to teach and do research.

“It’s been a different type of experience–awesome–especially the teaching,” she says. “With college courses, we are constantly changing things up. It’s very dynamic.”

Overall, the fellowship was paramount for her. “I don’t think I could have come here without it,” she says. “We needed the extra funding, and my husband was having trouble finding work here. We had expenses moving here, too.”

She had visited the area previously and fell in love with the people, especially Associate Professor Tim Scarlett (Social Sciences), and the industrial archaeology program. Another draw: Tech treated her in a fair and timely manner. “Another school never returned my phone calls and was always slow responding to emails.”

Jacque Smith, director of marketing for the Graduate School, says the fellowship fills a gap. “Graduate students in programs that focus primarily on career preparation, instead of research, often have to fund more of their education themselves. As the costs keep increasing, it can become harder for these students to attend grad school.”

Mariah Maggio, who was in Peace Corps Masters International Program and is a recipient of a fellowship, didn’t have any viable options to return to graduate school two years after her volunteer service in the Philippines ended.

“With the limited financial resources resulting from life as a Peace Corps volunteer, followed by work with a grassroots international organization, the fellowship was a decisive factor in my being able to enroll in Tech’s environmental policy master’s program,” she explains.

Maggio is thankful that the fellowship recognizes her service. As well, she adds, being a returned Peace Corps volunteer on the campus is a very rich experience because of the community and camaraderie that exist among those who have volunteered.

“You can not only reflect on your experience with fellow returned volunteers, but you also engage with prospective volunteers and really build on the work the Peace Corps is doing,” she says.

“We are fortunate that Tech recognizes returned Peace Corps volunteers as eligible candidates for the fellowship,” she adds. “To be valued after volunteering in such a way that supports returning to graduate school is an amazing initiative of this University and reinforces the ideal that Michigan Tech is playing an important role in fostering leaders for a global future.”

Jacqueline Huntoon, dean of the Graduate School, says the fellowship helps the University achieve its strategic plan, which includes an effort to attract students who bring diverse perspectives to the campus and the program.

“They demonstrate to others the opportunities for providing service to their communities, the nation and the world,” she concludes.

by Dennis Walikainen, senior editor

Published in Tech Today

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Inter-American Foundation (IAF) Grassroots Development Fellowship Program

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IAF Fellowships are available to currently registered students who have advanced to candidacy for the Ph.D. in the social sciences, physical sciences, technical fields and the professions as related to grassroots development issues. Applications for clinical research in the health field will NOT be considered.

Awards are based on both development and scholarly criteria. Proposals should offer a practical orientation to field-based information. In exceptional cases the IAF will support research reflecting a primary interest in macro questions of politics and economics but only as they relate to the environment of the poor. The Fellowship Program complements IAF’s support for grassroots development in Latin America and the Caribbean, and preference for those applicants whose careers or research projects are related to topics of greatest interest to the IAF.

IAF’s Fellowships provide support for Ph.D. candidates to conduct dissertation research in Latin America and the Caribbean on topics related to grassroots development. Funding is for between four and 12 months. The Inter-American Foundation expects to award up to 15 Doctoral Field Research Fellowships in 2011. Research during the 2011-2012 cycle must be initiated between June 1, 2011 and May 31, 2012.

  • Round-trip economy-class transportation to the field research site from the Fellow’s primary residence. Fellows must comply with the Fly America Act.
  • A research allowance of up to $3,000, pro-rated monthly.
  • A stipend of $1,500 per month for up to 12 months.
  • Accident and sickness insurance
  • Attendance at a required “mid-year” Grassroots Development Conference to discuss each Fellow’s progress with members of the IAF’s academic review committee and meet with IAF and IIE staff.

For more information please visit:

http://www.iie.org/en/Programs/IAF-Grassroots-Development-Fellowship-Program

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Michigan Tech Kicks Off $200 Million Capital Campaign

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by Jennifer Donovan, director of public relations

Michigan Tech is kicking off the public phase of a $200 million multi-year fund-raising campaign, President Glenn Mroz has announced. And appropriately enough on its 125th anniversary, Michigan Tech has already raised more than $125 million, he said, taking the University more than halfway to its goal.

Called “Generations of Discovery,” the campaign will enable Michigan Tech to acquire the resources to raise its recognition as a premier research university. It will focus primarily on the University’s strategic plan goal of attracting and supporting the very best faculty, students and staff by increasing the number of endowed faculty positions and increasing endowed student financial aid.

Endowments are permanently invested gifts that generate spendable income annually while continuing to grow. Endowed faculty chairs and professorships, as well as scholarships and graduate fellowships, are of particular importance to Michigan Tech’s future.

“This campaign funding will help us attract bright students and world-class professors,” said Mroz. “It will give us the resources we need to drive innovation and be counted among the nation’s finest technological universities.”

Already the “quiet phase” of the campaign, which began in 2006, has helped Michigan Tech increase its endowed faculty positions more than fourfold–from 4 to 17–and has raised nearly $11 million in new scholarships and fellowships for students.

New Gifts

At a campaign kickoff dinner, Mroz also announced two new $1 million gifts, one from Tom Shaffner and the other from John and Ruanne Opie. He also reported that the General Motors Foundation has given Michigan Tech another $160,000, bringing its support for the University this year to $244,000 and the total support from the GM Foundation and GM over the past 35 years to more than $8.3 million. The gifts bring the campaign total to $127.4 million to date.

Shaffner, a 1957 Tech alumnus with bachelor’s degrees in chemical engineering and business engineering administration, is chairman of the board of Dearborn Precision Tubular Products. A highly specialized machine shop specializing in high alloy tubing, aircraft parts and oil field equipment, Shaffner’s company uses a technology he developed to produce exceptionally long, straight tubes. His company is credited with developing deep-hole drilled components for the first US Navy nuclear submarine.

Shaffner is also helping fund a new building to house the Seaman Mineral Museum. It will be built adjacent to the Advanced Technology Development Complex on Sharon Avenue.

John Opie graduated from Michigan Tech in 1961 with a bachelor’s degree in metallurgical and materials engineering. He spent most of his career with General Electric, retiring in 2000 as vice chair/executive director. He delivered Tech’s commencement address in 1987 and again in 2001, receiving Honorary Doctorates in Engineering and Business.

Opie and his wife, Ruanne, recently donated $1 million for the construction of ten new skybox suites in the Student Ice Arena. The new suites, all on the west end of the rink, can each accommodate eight to fourteen people, with three skyboxes for larger groups. The Opies previously funded a 54,000-square-foot addition to the library and established an endowment to support the Department of Materials Science and Engineering.

Other gifts have enabled the University to pursue excellence in many different areas. Thanks to various campaign donors, Michigan Tech has been able to establish the Pavlis Institute for Global Technological Leadership, positioning students to create the future for a prosperous and sustainable world. The University is expanding and improving facilities for its electrical and computer engineering and computer science and engineering programs, as well as humanities and the mineral museum. Other donors enabled Tech to install lights and artificial turf at Sherman Field and to bring varsity women’s soccer to Tech.

Alumni Role

Alumni play a key role in any capital campaign. Electrical engineering alumnus Dave House ’65, chairman of Brocade Communication Systems of San Jose, Calif., and a longtime executive at Intel, is chairing the national campaign committee.

“The nation’s best universities have grown their endowments, brought internationally recognized scholars to their labs and classrooms, and built topflight facilities where great ideas are fostered,” said House. “Michigan Tech is focused on being one of these great universities, and it needs your support to achieve this goal.”

House himself is a staunch supporter of Michigan Tech. The House Family Foundation has endowed several professorships, including one held by Tim Schulz, dean of the College of Engineering. A gift from the House Family Foundation enabled the University to purchase the Michigan Tech Research Institute in Ann Arbor in 2006. The House Family Foundation also is currently funding improvements in electrical and computer engineering labs and classrooms.

But a successful campaign depends on more than alumni. All of Michigan Tech’s partners–corporations and foundations, as well as friends on campus and throughout the community, state and nation–play a key role in helping the University reach its goal by 2013. Corporations and foundations are responsible for over $35 million of contributions in the campaign to date. Longtime corporate partner General Motors just gave the University $160,000 to support student enterprises, senior design projects, diversity programs and student groups, another in a string of multiple campaign contributions.

“While a robust endowment is essential if we are to continue moving forward, we also need ongoing support for non-endowed programs and student life initiatives,” said George Butvilas, chair of the Michigan Tech Fund Board of Trustees. “We want our alumni and friends to know that gifts of all sizes can make an enormous difference, for a single student or an entire program.”

Published in Tech Today

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